Quitting

Written by cycleguy on September 23rd, 2012

I am tired. That is spelled T-I-R-E-D.  No make that T.I.R.E.D.

If I could magnify that word a bit more I would maximize to its fullest.  I am writing this Sunday afternoon and if there is such a thing as being deliriously tired, then I am it.  It has been a long month getting ready for today’s celebration of God’s gift to us.  We had a good crowd, a good spirit, a good worship, a so-so message, and an “I-ate-way-too-much- pitch in dinner.   Fortunately I kept that down to a mild roar.  🙂  Because my mind is sort of lost somewhere in the nether regions,  I thought I would share a story with you I read recently and then let it speak for itself.

Jim Ward was a late bloomer.  He was known as one of the best-known triathletes in the world.  What’s unusual about Jim is that he started triathlons at the age of 68.  He died at the age of of 83- five miles into a bike race!  It was Jim’s goal to complete the Ironman Triathlon as an octogenarian, and he almost made it.  The Ironman is a contest held in Hawaii once a year.  The challenge includes a 2.4 mile swim in the ocean; a 112 mile bicycle race; and a 26.2 mile run in that order and without a break.  You do them in a 17 hour span.  

Jim Ward was a ten-time triathlete world champion in his age group.  In his seventies, he became the oldest athlete to finish the Ironman.  He was planning on doing the same in his eighties.

His motto was “I’m just not going to quit.” 

I like that: “I’m just not going to quit.”  Quitting is easy.  The path gets too rough…quit.  The talk gets too tough…quit.  The hills get too steep…quit.  The mountains too tall…quit.  Yeah, quitting is easy.  Staying tough…hanging in there…refusing to hang your head?  Not so easy…but well worth it in the end.

I have no clue what you are/might be going through. I just want to encourage you today not to give up.  Not to quit.  Trust the ONE who numbers your steps and knows who you are and what you are going through. 

Okay…now for a Sunday afternoon nap.   😀

 

36 Comments so far ↓

  1. Daniel says:

    Glad that you were able to be present today. Sometimes the host can never enjoy his own party if you know what I mean. Thanks for the encouragement. I have at several moments cried out to God that I was done. That I had quit. Thankfully it was all just my system responding to too much built up crap that need to be vented.

  2. Larry Hughes says:

    A well Deserved one, I am sure.

    • cycleguy says:

      Funny…I didn’t get one. Spent some time getting prepared for the week, talking to some folks, and then doing the Bowflex. it is really good to hear from you again Larry.

  3. Funny. My post tomorrow/today is about being weary. I don’t want to quit, but I’m just weary. Weary of a lot of stuff. Wanting more of the One who welcomes the weary.

  4. Jim F. says:

    It is funny – I am seriously tired and recharging this morning after another crazy week or visitations, hospital visits, sermon prep, and co-hosting and participating in a Marriage seminar as well as the church picnic yesterday – not included in this is parenting and kids activities – it has been crazy busy. One thing I have learned that in these times I need to recharge and not quit because I see God doing amazing things in my life and in the lives of others and that is so encouraging. I have had to make some tough decisions though because somethings do have to take a backseat during these busy times and so in recent months I have had to put writing and reading blogs in the back seat. It is a matter of priorities and timing and not quitting.

    I hope your nap was restful! Thanks Bill.

  5. floyd says:

    I didn’t know that. That’s amazing. Thanks for the encouragement this morning! Can always use some of that!

  6. Susan says:

    I think there are a lot of us that are bone weary. If we compared lists, we’d probably find we all have a lot in common along that line. The world (and our country) I grew up in have changed so much it’s incredible.

  7. lindaM says:

    Hi Bill,
    My thought this morning is that old song line, “Know when to hold them” and “Know when to fold them”. This is something we can be asking God about during our prayer times.

    Should we quit following God? No. Should we be quitting some other things? Perhaps. We shouldn’t keep hanging in there on something that has no eternal purpose in our lives.

    Our devotional lives? Reading/ studying the Bible, prayer? There is no doubt we need to hang in there with these.

    There are lots of seducing spirits in our world and we believers live in the world. We need to start using the discernment that we ask the Holy Spirit for in our prayer closets. There is no doubt that even the stongest believers are subject to disceiving spirits. We need to be diligent and deliberate in watching for evidence of these spirits at work in our lives, working to lead us into sin and error.

    This means we need consistency in our prayer time with God. Yesterday, in the morning prayer time at 10:00 am there were 5 people praying. A few weeks ago there were 3 people praying. It is good to pray also in a group setting. This example is given to us in the NT of the disciples praying to God in the upper room.

    • cycleguy says:

      Following you on the first couple of paragraphs Linda but you lost me on the last two. Not sure how they apply.

      • lindaM says:

        Hi Bill,
        We live with deceiving spirits in the world that might keep us going with something that we should let go, for our own benefit and for our walk with God.

        We can ask God (the Holy Spirit) in our prayer time to reveal to us what we should keep in our activities and schedules and what we should quit. In my mind there might even be some Christian stuff we do that we should quit.

        Being a Christian in our present day world and being a disciple of Christ is not necessarily the same thing.

  8. Jason says:

    I hope you had a good nap. 🙂

  9. Enjoy the well derserved rest brother and thanks for the encouragement!

    “If you quit ONCE it becomes a habit.Never quit!!!”
    ― Michael Jordan

    • cycleguy says:

      I will probably take a day or two to chill a little. had lunch with staff today and spouses today. Was nice not to talk shop. Thanks Jay for the quote.

  10. tcavey says:

    I needed this, thank you!

  11. Wow, I was pretty much saying the same thing to myself today. I’ve had a trying and busy few weeks and I was worn down then God began speaking to me about His faithfulness and calling people to His and their faithfulness (which is what I preached yesterday). I don’t necessarily feel any less tired yet, but I do feel refreshed and I’m not giving up! Thanks Bill.

  12. Zee says:

    One step at a time…

    I’ve been thinking about quitting a lot lately. Many reasons and many things to quit. The thing that stops me most of the time is that I actually enjoy stuff I sometimes want to quit. Like my job… or couple of ministries I am involved with…

    The main reason is that I just don’t feel adequate for the job… or, no longer feel adequate. But I hope it’s just a season.

    I’m just not going to quit. That’s a great motivator. Thanks for sharing the story, Bill.

    • cycleguy says:

      I hate it that you are feeling this way right now Zee. I big brother feels like he needs to help. 🙂 But I do believe it is a season and you will go through it, get refreshed and come back strong again. Just remember you have an American big bro praying for you. You’re welcome btw. 😉

  13. Mike says:

    It sounds like you need a mini vacation. I’m big on not giving up, maybe sometimes to my detriment. But like the scriptures tell us, don’t lose faith. Sometimes when we feel our weakest, we need to lean on Christ even more. It has worked for me so far.

  14. Betty Draper says:

    Keep preaching it brother…quitting and resting when you are weary is two different things. Quiting will make you more weary, but resting will bring renewed strength.

    Not enough blog space to tell you all the times we have wanted to quit. When Ace gets weary he always wanted to quit the ministry and buy a truck and us go on the road. Now I am a helpmate to this Godly man but to that I always said, no, no, no. I will follow you to the ends of the earth but not as a truck drivers wife…it was not for me. We have never felt adequate for any thing we have ever done which totally makes it of God. He love us weak ones…loves to use us. The enemy hates it when we rest and refresh, he likes us to stay weary and tired. In PNG Ace and I would go to a nearby dive resort, take our books, buy lunch and just set and read for a little while, this helped us a lot. That last year I think we did it more because we needed it more. It saved some of those we worked with from getting their head bit off from us being weary. So others will benefit from you resting and refreshing. Blessings

  15. Eileen says:

    Thank you for this reminder, Bill. I needed it. May we all take our last breath here on earth doing it while running toward the goal.

  16. Michael says:

    I am so sorry I couldn’t make it to the celebration, I know I missed a grand time! There have been many times in this life as a mom that I’ve been bone weary, tired, wanting to just quit & say, “darn kids, they are grown ups, let them deal with this problem on their own!) Then God gently reminds me that He’s never quit on me and if I am to be an example of His love, I cannot quit, no matter who/what the circumstance.
    So glad you got to enjoy your celebration!

  17. Jan says:

    I am so glad you could enjoy your celebration. Sorry I missed it. 🙁 Speaking from my mom’s perspective, there have been many times when I’ve wanted to quit, I was bone tired of kids problems, I wanted to throw my hands up & say, “they’re grown, they can deal with it themselves”(and I know I have done that!) then God gently reminds me that He’s never given up on me, if I want to exude God’s love, I cannot quit, I continue on no matter what the circumstance. Love this post Bill.

    • cycleguy says:

      I’m taking that Michael and Jan are the same person in this case. 😛 It is good to know He has never given up on me. Missed you guys but know you will be here when able. Look forward to showing it to you, but more importantly spending time with you.